The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Dendranthema grandiflora and referred to by the cultivar name Empire Sapphire.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in New Hartford, NY. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms and floret colors and good garden performance.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1995, of the Dendranthema grandiflora cultivar Empire Cheyenne, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,973, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary seedling selection identified as B88-2 as the male, or pollen, parent, described as a deep purple formal decorative-type garden Chrysanthemum.
The cultivar Empire Sapphire was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in New Hartford, NY., in August, 1996. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form and floret color and excellent garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in New Hartford, NY., since October, 1996, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.